Farewell Mike Cameron-I loved watching you play

Matthew announced at Lookout Landing that Mike Cameron is hanging up his glove at age 38.  In camp with 54 competitors in the Washington Nationals camp, I guess it shouldn't be a surprise. 

Mike Cameron played center field at Safeco like he owned it.  As matter of fact he did own it.

Maybe you don't have as high a regard for Mike Cameron as I do.  He came over in the Ken Griffey, Jr. blackmail and he simply could never be Junior.  He was never going to be as productive a hitter, try as he might.  But in my book, in some ways he was better (and I have considerable fondness for number 24.) Cameron loved Seattle.  It showed in his relationship with the fans and that he was always laughing and smiling.  Though he frequently struggled at the plate, and famously so in Safeco field, he was sans peur in center field.  The first great center fielder to arrive at Safeco, he played  shallower than Griffey, allowing him to come in on balls better, but had enough speed to make the play at the wall just like Junior. His UZR numbers were very good for the 2002-3 years, the only ones available on Fan Graphs.



Perhaps you've forgotten this play on Derek Jeter's home run shortly after Cammie joined the team in 2000.  It shows why he took some of the sting out of Griffey's flight to Cincinnati for me.  I even wrote a poem about Cameron's catch for my 5th and 6th graders to show that poetry didn't have to be a bore.

After M's didn't offer Cameron a contract for the 2004 season, he signed with the Mets.  After an  average year with the Metropolitans in 2004, Cameron suffered a terrible season-ending injury in a collision with Carlos Beltran. He went on to play with the Padres and Brewers, posting decent seasons with both teams.

Cameron had a good career.  Baseball-Reference.com shows him as a slightly above average hitter for his career, with an OPS+ above 100 from 1999-2009.  Not surprisingly, his best year was 2001, along with many others, with a .267/.353/.480 slash line, 126 OPS + and 16th place finish in MVP voting.

A loyal player, a loyal teammate who got the most he could out of his talent.  No, Cameron wasn't Ken Griffey, Jr., but in some ways he was better.

It's great to see this baseball good-guy go out on his own terms, and I'll remember his time in Seattle fondly.

"Dream dreams, then write them. Aye but live them first." Reading Samuel Eliot Morison

Statue of historian Samuel Eliot Morison in Commonwealth Park, Boston

 I'm not sure whether Samuel Eliot Morison was a sailor who also happened to be a Harvard scholar, or if Morison was a Harvard scholar who was also a sailor.  Morison (1887-1976) was prolific.  He wrote the official history of the U.S.Navy in World War II.  Won two Pulitzers for his biographies of Christopher Columbus (Admiral of the Ocean Seas, 1943) and John Paul Jones (John Paul Jones: A Sailor's Biography, 1959.)  Before his death of a stroke at age eighty-eight, Morison went on to win the Bancroft Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Morison was an unusual historian, in the sense that a lot of his work was related to his first love, the sea.  Set aside that he wrote these tremendous naval histories-U.S.N. Operations, fifteen volumes worth, still popular and in print today, or those two prize-winning sea dog biographies, Morison was a sailor himself. Whether sailing the coast between Boston and Maine he knew so well, or retracing the path of Columbus himself, Morison's, a native Bostonian, advice to writers was "Dream dreams, then write them.  Aye, but live them first."  When World War II came along, Morison offered to write the official naval history of the conflict to his friend Franklin Roosevelt.  Though his offer was accepted, and Morison was commissioned as a Vice Admiral in the USNR, he didn't just write from behind a desk.  He went to the thick of the fighting while in his late fifties, faithfully serving on convoys across the Atlantic, witnessed the Torch landings in North Africa, went to the Pacific and bunked on destroyers, battleships and cruisers in the Solomons, including the Battle of Kolombangara, and served on the U.S.S. Tennessee in 1945 as part of the covering force at Okinawa.  

I'm writing this entry, not so much because I think that Morison was a great historian-he was.  But this isn't the sort of eat your broccoli 'cause it's good for you post.  It's that his work was so good and so accessible to anybody with an interest in his subject matter.  I'm currently reading Old Bruin: Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry. Perry was the younger brother of Oliver Hazard Perry, the victor of the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812.  Though he did not achieve the notoriety of his older brother, Calbraith, as he was known, was the dominant figure in American naval history 1835-1856, much as Winfield Scott was the commanding leader of the U.S. Army during the same period.  It's an enjoyable tome (440 pages) because Morison was a great storyteller, shared lots of great detail and wove it into an engaging narrative.  In scholarly circles today Morison would be scorned.  Too much telling and not enough analysis.  My kind of writer.

I can't help but believe that the Admiral, a nickname repeated to me by Redmond Barnett, one of my professors at the University of Puget Sound many years ago, would be perfectly at home if he'd been born fifty years later.  Morison would be great as one of Ken Burns' talking heads (no derision intended), or as one of CNN's experts in residence, called upon to explain the Cole bombing in 2000, or the Navy's role in both Gulf wars, '91 and '03, or how the Navy will handle the closure of the Straits of Hormuz, should Iran follow through with its threats. I'd compare him favorably to David McCulloch, another great storyteller, and less obnoxious than Briton Niall Ferguson.

Samuel Eliot Morison was my kind of historian. 

Something to cheer, something to jeer

While the most entertaining political issue in America remains the GOP version of the Insane Klown Posse, this is not about that.

There is actually some uplifting news in our politics and that is the Washington State Senate's approval of same sex marriage.  I very rarely contact my elected representatives about any issue, but when I heard Ed Murray's announcement he would announce a same sex marriage bill in the Senate and the votes were close I couldn't help myself.  I know my Senator, Jim Kastama, to be a very careful, very moderate Senator that was viewed as a swing vote.  I immediately sent him an e-mail urging him to support the measure.  That he did so is something I will not forget.  More forthright than Kastama's vote were those four Republicans that insured themselves the opposition of their own party, and a likely primary fight to vote in favor of equal rights for all Washingtonians, gay or straight.  In a time when there is so little to admire in politics, I offer them my thanks.

I am not gay, but I have friends and family who are.  I believe it is wrong to deny equal rights to gay men and women and the approval of this bill simply completes the hard work this state has already done to extend full citizenship rights to all our residents.  There will be a ballot measure to challenge same sex marriage when it becomes law after passing the House next week.  They will claim that marriage should be between a man and a woman, that traditional marriage will lose its status or meaning if this measure becomes law.  I say bullshit on that.  I'm married to the woman I love and will always love.  This law strengthens my marriage by recognizing the right of all families equally as a fundamental right enshrined in the law of the State of Washington.  Those who don't share this view are free to practice their beliefs and sanctify their marriages in the fashion they choose, but they may not deny the same rights to others.


Kudos to the Washington's  Senate, and my thanks to the House in advance.

I wish I could say the same for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Their decision to discontinue providing grants to Planned Parenthood for breast examinations and other matters related to women's health is appalling.  Citing the desire to avoid granting to organizations under investigation, the Komen Foundation makes a blatantly political choice.  Planned Parenthood, because it receives federal dollars, will always be under scrutiny.  And not just because it receives federal support.  Planned Parenthood is an abortion provider, and as long as there is the most remote possibility that PP is mingling its federal dollars with forbidden abortion services the pro-lifers in Congress will be out to trip them up.

Komen's national director, Nancy C. Brinker has scuffled to cover her vulnerable ass, going so far as to retreat and recant today.  It does not disguise the fact that there is an organized effort afoot in this country to deny women reproductive freedoms that were won in the courtroom 40 years ago.  While there is room to sensibly regulate abortion consistent with Roe v. Wade, that does not give movements, typically led by men, the right to deny abortion rights, limit contraception, or deny health services to poor women.  My hope is that this will be a wake up call to women who believed the women's rights movement was consigned to the history books in the '70's and demand the rights that belong to them. 

Moving on after Prince Fielder

With Prince Fielder signing with the Tigers, this longshot topic of speculation regarding the Mariners can go away.  What's next?  It seems to me the M's still have some cash to toss in the kitty if they are to keep their salary at last year's level-about $12-15 million.  Perhaps some pitching?  Roy Oswalt is interested in a $9 million one year deal.  Or Edwin Jackson could be had for three years at about $10 million per year.  This would solidify the Mariners rotation which looks a bit thin with Felix, Vargas, Iwakuma, Noesi and a selection from a cast of thousands (Millwood, Perez, Beavan, Furbush, Paxton, Hultzen . . . add name here.)

Eric Wedge and Jack Zdurencik introduce Jesus Montero at Thursday's medi luncheon.

 Unless Jack Z can work his magic to pick up a third baseman, I doubt he has plans to add anybody else to the team.  Not pitching, not a bat, not nobody.  The media luncheon held earlier this week with Zdurencik and manager Eric Wedge seemed to indicate there would be no more big pieces to the puzzle. Wedge emphasized improvement by the players he has, not the hope that significant bats or arms would be introduced to the team. As frustrating as 2011 was on the field, 2012 could be doubly so:  The Year of the Kids.

Right now, based on comments by Wedge and Zdurencik, these are your Seattle Mariners and their length of service:

 Infield:

 1B-Justin Smoak-2 yrs, 223 games, 886 PA  .234/.323/.396

 2B-Dustin Ackley-1 yr, 90 games, 376 PA .273/.348/.417

 SS-Brendan Ryan-5 yrs, 538 games, 1826 PA .248/.313/.326

 3B-Kyle Seager-1 yr, 56 games, 182 PA .258/.312/.359

Outfield

 LF-Mike Carp-3 yrs, 114 games, 419 PA .276/.326/.466

CF-Franklin Gutierrez-7 yrs, 681 games, 2486 PA  .224/.261/.273

RF-Ichiro Suzuki-11 yrs, 1749 games, 8060 PA  .272/.310/.375

Catchers

Miguel Olivo-10 yrs, 996 games 3565 PA .224/.253/.388

John Jaso-3 yrs, 203 games 687 PA .224/.298/.354

 Designated Hitter

 Jesus Montero-1 yr, 18 games 69 PA .328/.406/.590

 Likely role players

 Chone Figgins-10 yrs,1178 games, 5090 PA  .188/.241/.243

 Casper Wells-2 yrs, 131 games.237/.317/.442

Stats from Baseball-Reference.com 

 Obviously there will be more players, but barring a significant trade or injury, these are likely the starters and significant bench players for 2012.  Yes there will be more-some Luis Rodriguez, Chris Gimenez, Munenori Sasaki, and others could join this list, but this is likely the group of guys that will start.

If their incredible youth doesn't just jump out at you, put on your glasses.  Five of the players on this list-Ackley, Seager, Carp, Wells and Montero have less than one full season's games.  Because Carp and Wells will likely share LF, four positions are shared by very young players.  Of the rest, Ichiro, Olivo, and Figgins are the only ones with 1,000 games played (actually Olivo is four games short, but I'll give it to him.)  None of these three are coming off particularly memorable seasons.  Add in Gutierrez, whose 2011 was a huge health disaster, and there's not a lot to cheer for.

But this is who we have.  Zdurencik has stuck with his rebuilding plan, focusing on the farm, acquiring and developing minor league talent wherever possible.  The M's have a long, slow climb to make to reach respectability, and this is just step two in what is likely to take a few more years. Wedge's job is to make this team more efficient at the plate and on the base paths, scoring more runs than the disastrous totals of 2010-11.

Whatever the accomplishments of kids on this roster, the Mariners farm system continues to get high marks from those publications that rate those systems and rising prospects. Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com ranked the Mariners prospects the highest in the major leagues with 329 points with his top 100 prospect lists.  Jonathan Sickels at minorleagueball.com ranked the M's with the 4th best farm system in the game.  Finally, Baseball America released their list of the top ten Mariners prospects.  What does all this mean?  Not a lot. It's still pitching heavy, but shortstop Nick Franklin remains in MLB.com's top 100 and Vinnie Catricala and Francisco Martinez, each potentially a third basemen, are ranked in the top ten by Baseball America. Zdurencik's goal to acquire young, team controlled talent through the draft, internationally and trades seems to be working. This year we get a glimpse to see whether it can produce on the field.

I think it's a tall order and will require patience on the part of fans ready to give up  baseball for a monastery in Tibet.  The M's will have to show some development  from their youngsters, and improvement from their veterans.  Wedge has already held a winter camp for nine of his players.  Gutierrez looks healthier and Smoak looks leaner.  He's already stated his preference to move Ichiro out of the leadoff spot in the order and to use Figgins as a supersub a la Mark McLemore in the M's glory years. It all sounds good, but we'll see.  This is not a starting line up likely to drive M's fans back to Safeco in droves, but it certainly should be an interesting year.

Jesus Saves?

John Jaso, George Sherill, Munenori Sasaki, Hisashi Iwakuma; you knew the other shoe had to drop soon.  Jack Zdurencik would have to bring a bat to Safeco if there was any hope of putting some sizzle in the Mariners' wimpy batting order.

Phenom Michael Pineda to Yanks for highly rated catcher/dh Jesus Montero is a good trade for both teams.

As we all know, however, sizzle comes with a cost, and the acquisition of Yankees slugger in waiting Jesus Montero cost the M's starter Michael Pineda.  Pineda rapidly became a fan favorite as a rookie by winning in April and May, making the All-Star team, striking out 173 in 171 innings.  By the second half of the season, however, Pineda was struggling with walks, homers and lack of run support.  He threw too many strikes with his heater, and couldn't throw enough with his slider.  All of this was fixable, however, and I was looking forward to another year of Pineda slotted behind Felix in the rotation.

 Unfortunately, the lack of news on Prince Fielder made it seem more and more likely the M's would have to trade pitching to bolster their offense.  When I heard the news tonight it was difficult to decide whether this is a good deal or not.  The M's get a batter widely believed to be a can't miss monster.  A right hander with the kind of power that Safeco should not diminish, Montero is compared to Miguel Cabrera with power to all fields.  He won't be a pull hitter intimidated by Safeco's deep left field as Mike Cameron and Adrian Beltre were.

There is little question Montero is patient, can hit for power and average. 

It's a small sample size but the graph from Hit Tracker shows the true location of Montero's four late season home runs.  They're dingers at Safeco too.  Three of them to the opposite field.

Montero does bring a negative however, a big one.  Primarily a minor league catcher, he's a bad backstop.  Having a recent history of bad backstops, we need another like a hole in the head.  The M's recently went out and acquired Jaso to rest Miguel Olivo's passed ball machine, and I'm not sure we need to offer bad catching skills more time.  This means Montero is likely a DH, though there is some thinking his catching skills could be raised as high as Mike Piazza's . Jim Bowden at ESPN believes he could be teachable.  Perhaps another student for Roger Hansen;  it may be worth the time.

"Tools of ignorance" or tools of incompetence?  This is a much bigger deal for the M's if Montero can catch.

 So the principals in the deal cost the Yanks and M's something they'd rather not part with. The Yankees get a starter they've coveted and the M's begin unenfeebling their offense with a potentially potent bat. The secondary parts to the deal I'm less wild about.  19 year old minor league pitcher Jose Campos is going from the M's to the Yankees while New York ships young hurler Hector Noesi to the M's.  Campos is considered a potential ace in the making, though several years away from the majors.  Noesi was primarily a starter in the minors, but made the vast majority of his appearances for the Yankees out of the bullpen.  He's projected as a back of the rotation starter.  Bird in the hand, versus ace in the bush?  I think we gave a bit much here given the M's depth of pitching close to the majors. It's a trade for the here and now versus the future. 

Is this a good or bad deal for the M's?  It's not a perfect deal.  It's one in which fans from both teams are divided.  I see it as a deal made for need, in which your team trades something that is a strength to help fix a weakness.The M's traded the very visible Pineda with his big rookie year for a hitter that is a year's performance less established, plus Noesi provides pitching help today-this minute.  This deal is a bit more risky for the M's than the Yankees, but it does address the M's offense issues right now.  There doesn't seem to be anybody in the M's minor league system who can be this kind of masher.

The response is interesting.  The Mariners fan base, which has cried out for Fielder and more offense, is divided between those who can accept the deal and those who think it is the worst deal since . . . the last deal.  Trade Howie and Chucky.  Many Yankees fans feel they put one over on the M's.  I found the most interesting reaction over on Lookout Landing in the comments section.  Brandon C. (amid the more than 400 comments on the trade) hosts the SB Nation Pinstripe Alley blog provided his response to the trade, which were generally balanced.  Both Montero and Noesi will be missed by the Yankees and offer good value to the Mariners now.

 Is this a perfect deal?  No.  It is clear the Mariners got one bat they needed.  Dave Cameron also offered it opens the way to more deals.  No money traded hands here-the money is still available to make deals, either for more pitching-say a year of Roy Oswalt-or taking on more salary in a trade for more bats.  It clogs the situation at catcher/DH, and moves Mike Carp out to LF in the vast wasteland of Safeco's left field.  That's a situation I find less than optimal. If Prince Fielder should be signed-a situation I find less and less likely, he doesn't want to play here-that makes things even worse. More deals should come as we head into spring training.

Still the king of the surf guitar: Dick Dale live at Hell's Kitchen

A couple of weeks ago Tim sent out an e-mail announcing that surf guitarist Dick Dale was playing Hell's Kitchen in Tacoma, a tiny club on Pacific Avenue.  Should we go?  I hemmed and hawed-it was a school night, a night I had to run to Seattle to pick up the school paper-I foresaw a very difficult day after.  In the end I decided to go for it, and I'm glad I did.

Still the king of the surf guitar, Dick Dale brought his collection of tube amps and considerable skill to Tacoma on Thursday night.

I met Tim and Patrick and Michelle for drinks and dinner at the  1022 bar and headed for Hell's Kitchen.  It was my first trip to that club.  It's in a new location.  I like the performance area, but the bar area is just silly-a virtual pen, impossible to spend time talking or sit with those who aren't drinking.

 Graceland 5 and the Coloffs were adequate fill ins for the main event, but nothing special .  Local favorites Girl Trouble played a short, entertaining set before Dale took the stage.  I'd go see their locally influenced brand of Northwest rock without a big headliner.

Dale and his band stepped on stage just after 11:00, only an hour and half after my bed time.  It didn't matter.  Pat, Michelle and I already crept up to the front of the room during sound check and we were encamped in the first row of bodies, center stage.  We would have a terrific view of the show.

Dick took the stage with his young bassist and son Jimmy Dale on drums.  They played a ninety minute set that was simply outstanding.  Though he occasionally lost track of his mental set list (doesn't come on stage with a written set) and once or twice had his timing off, Dale at age 74 remains a formidable performer.  Playing a left handed Stratocaster he perversely strings upside down, Dale played all the favorites: Ghost Riders in the Sky, Misirlou, Pipeline, Rumble and many more.  He remains fast, and his double picking technique was clearly visible (chiefly because we were rarely more than six feet from his hands.) Though Dale's voice can best be described as thin, he kept the crowd involved in choruses to House of the Rising Sun and Fever (??!!)  It was great to see the interaction between the elder Dale and his two younger bandmates, and I learned a lot about the integral role of bass in surf music.  You just can't be a shrinking violet when you're playing on stage with the king, 'cause he'll blow you right off.

Dale duels with his young bassist on stage.  Dale wins all of 'em.

Dale's Strat.  He activates his pick-ups with a toggle switch on the faceplate.  No whammy bar or pedals.

This is how close I was.  The Stratocaster head was often two feet from my face.

Pat's watching while Dale is just a bit upstage.  That's how close we were.

In all, it was a great night.  The music was great, and I survived the day after on four hours sleep and dramatic (temporary, I hope) hearing loss.  With Dale at 74 and suffering from colon cancer, it's important to take these opportunities while they are there.

Well Mariners fans, what's next? Start by telling the writers to stick it!

It would be cliche to suggest that for Mariners fans, this is a winter of our discontent.  Yesterday the M's announced they'd finally signed George Sherrill, a LOOGY (Left-handed One Out GuY.)  Great, I'm excited.  George is a good guy and may help keep things close in our usual 2-0, 2-1, 3-2 games (note: Mariners are always the guys with the lower score.) but I don't think this does much to help our offense.  I know it's not even January yet, but it's difficult to see the parade of player transactions go by and see little action from Jack Z to improve our offense.  Yes, adding John Jaso as a backup catcher is nice.  But that's it. Even signing Munenori Kawasaki as a back up minor league infielder isn't a done deal.

It's actually pretty fun to watch Jeff Sullivan try to fill the day with his daily efforts to rally the troops and share his exasperation with the lack of action on the trade and free agent fronts. On the other hand, I find Geoff Baker's investigation into the Mariners' financial status, and their relative economic competitiveness  versus the rest of baseball strange and verging on hysteria. Dave Cameron's calls for patience seems to lack urgency and energy, and meanwhile there are no trades, signings, Prince Fielder sightings.  Nil. Nada. Nothing.

What's a Mariner fan to do?

Trade Felix Hernandez? Scoff, cough, harumph! Never-well maybe never.

One thing a Mariner fan has to do is endure the litany of articles written by a host of writers and bloggers urging the team to trade Felix Hernandez.  I always find these articles at once amusing and hateful.  Given the teams and players involved in said financial transaction, it's like the stories all originate from the same location, um, like the devil's asshole, and then with a few modifications they're printed as original thinking by Ken Rosenthal, Jayson Stark, or some other writer with time on his hands during the winter doldrums and no news to speak of.

The stories all start the same:  The Mariners could speed their rebuilding program by trading Felix Hernandez.  To the Yankees. Grr.  The Philadelphia and Kansas City Athletics traded good players to the Yankees, did it help them?  The St. Louis Browns anybody?  Last I checked their best players were Ned  Garver and Eddie Gaedel and the team was pulling up stakes and headed to Baltimore. I don't care whether the target team is the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Phillies or whoever else is pouring money into players for their team, the Mariners are not a plantation for the big boys.  We can't trade away our best for another team's leavings.  Felix Hernandez is one of the five best pitchers in baseball, he's the most visible member of the team, draws fans to the ballpark, and he needs to remain a Mariner. 

The King's Court-An island of supporters in a sea of empty seats at Safeco Field.

What I especially love, however, is the players touted for such a trade. The "trade Felix" crowd regularly tout the Yankees (grrr) and the players they could offer.  First on the list is Jesus Montero.  A right handed catcher, who can't catch well, they argue Montero has the kind of power the M's need in the middle of their line-up.  Sure.  Montero has 60 major league at bats.  He's proven nothing.  If Montero is so good, why didn't the Yankees call him up earlier?  Pitcher, Ivan Nova is also a name included.  Nova had a great year last year, with a low ERA, showing his 18 wins weren't just because of Yankee offense. It will be interesting to see if he's able to put together back to back successful years.   Another player mentioned is pitcher Dellin Betances, who has pitched exactly two games in major league baseball.  Ken Rosenthal and David Schoenfeld graciously throw in minor leaguer Manny Banuelos, another pitcher, who hasn't pitched above AAA.  Some include Brett Gardner in such a trade.  I like Gardner, but he is still a role player, a table setter, not a transformational bat.  He'd bring speed and defense to the team, but wouldn't be able to drive himself in.

Hi, my name is Manny Banuelos and I may pitch for the Yankees some day when they let me out of high school.  Okay, that's not fair, he may be good, great or really suck.  He's just a prospect so we don't know. 

 See what's missing here?  Proven offense.  We're asked to trade the 2010 Cy Young Award winner, the 2009 runner up, a 25 year old with 85 career wins for prospects, mostly pitches.  With the exception of Nova, who may end up being quite good, they are guys who have proven nothing.  And how does this help our offense again?  Montero, by all accounts will not be a major league catcher.  He will be a DH.  A right handed DH at Safeco.  Now I also believe you can be a successful right-handed power hitter at Safeco because I've seen players do it.  Frank Thomas could hit at Safeco, maybe Montero could too, but we don't know if he could even be successful at Fenway because he hasn't done it.

What I don't like is the insinuation the Mariners should gamble here.  It's Felix, you won't be able to sign him so you've got to trade him to New York (grrr) where we all live and work (grrr) because frankly the Mariners just aren't worthy of having such a wonderful player.  This is plantation thinking-other teams must develop players to fill the needs of the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Phillies, or maybe the Angels, because they're the ones with the money.  We'll give you leavings, dress up the deal with lots of prospects and say it's all you deserve. Prospects are nice but in the end they're just prospects.  We already are playing a team that is almost entirely composed of prospects-Smoak, Ackley, Seager, Carp, Wells, Robinson, the bullpen and a couple of projected starters-they may be good, but they haven't shown anything yet. Would you seriously look at Justin Smoak and say with certainty he's the real deal?  Yes, but my fingers are crossed.

Hey wait a minute, writer/asshole how about giving us some proven talent?  I'm not above trading Felix, but give us somebody good as a centerpiece.  I'd take Robinson Canoe.  He makes about the same amount of money as Felix, and then we could move Ackley out to left field, which he played in college.  Curtis Granderson would fit in well with this team-he's a legit centerfielder with pop; that's a deal I could live with.  How about Texeira with your Manny dude?  Mark's fading a bit but plays a good first base and hits with power from both sides of the plate.  Don't tell me I'm lucky to trade one of the best pitchers in baseball for a bunch of question marks, give me (the fan, the team, the players) respect and trade straight across for a player who can help this team improve on the field now.

What? Trading Texeira puts a hole in your lineup?  Gosh, I hear that Montero guy can really hit, and it shouldn't take too much to make him a first baseman.  Your fans will understand.